After the loss against Macclesfield last week in freezing conditions Wirral look to bounce back from 3 defeats, albeit tight games that could have gone either way.

Fixtures against Sandal are always tough and competitive and Saturday should be no different. The weather is forecasted to rain again, which is no surprise for this time of year, but I am sure all the players will be hoping for a bit of sun and some running rugby to keep the spectators entertained.

Wirral welcome back Matt Ringer, Mike Byrne and Chris Hughes in the forwards. Sadly Matt Deehan drops out. Matt has been selected to play for England under 20s on Saturday so we will let him off not playing.

In the backs Wirral are missing Craig Harvey, Chris Speed and Chris Crowley. This means Tom Parry will captain the side from 12, Ben Brooks comes onto the wing and Tom Cole moves to 13.

Killene Thornton makes his debut on the wing, with Sam Broadbent covering on the bench.

Kick off is 2:15 this week with a Christmas pre match lunch.

Wirral squad for Sandal 11/12/21

1. Yarker
2. Gratton
3. Hughes
4. Long
5. Stead
6. Hearn
7. Reeve
8. Pearl
9. Akehurst
10. D Harvey
11. Brooks
12. Parry (c)
13. Cole
14. Thornton
15. Annetts
16. Ringer
17. Byrne
18. Broadbent